(Photos by Denisse Rauda/Stripes Japan)
In Sapporo, the locals have a fantastic way to end the night, even if it’s into the early morning hours, and it involves ice cream or gelato parfaits. “Shime parfaits” are delightful concoctions served up around the capital city of Hokkaido in cafés catering to the late-night crowd seeking an aesthetic spot to enjoy a sweet treat and good conversation.
According to Visit Sapporo, “shime parfait” culture started here over a decade ago. In Japanese, “shime” means to finish or an ending and the shime parfait is the sweet finish to a full day or night out.
In the vicinity of the busy Tanukikoji Street in the city center, you’ll find about a dozen or so parfait cafés each with their own unique take. Some only open at night and others are open all day, because there’s never a bad time for a parfait.
During my short visit to Sapporo, I had as many ice cream cones as I could handle, as well as the enormous and beautiful parfaits I found along the way. Unfortunately, that meant I only got to try three different parfaits at two shops, but all were exceptional. If there’s any local custom you’ll want to try while in Sapporo, I highly recommend the delightful late-night parfait.
Shiawase no Recipe Sweets Susukino (Photo by Denisse Rauda/Stripes Japan)
From the moment you enter the quiet staircase down to the B1 level entrance of this charming café, you’re immediately transported into an Alice in Wonderland-like world. The interiors with mismatched chairs and artificial florals to the illustrated menu book, keep that Neverland vibe. The theme continues with Shiawase’s impressive parfaits fit for a Mad Hatter tea party. We chose the pistachio chocolate parfait for 1,950 yen (about $12) and the mint chocolate parfait for 1,840 yen. To be honest, we’d just finished a big bowl of ramen prior to our stop here at 11 p.m., so I wasn’t sure how we’d be able to finish these so late at night. The second I dug in, however, I locked in. The scoop of pistachio gelato was creamy, but the flavor of that and the chocolate gelato weren’t overwhelming. Pistachio flavor in Japan is a little different and more subtle than the punchy green concoctions we get in the States. The parfait came topped with banana slices, nuts and decorative shards of chocolate. Under the pistachio and chocolate scoops were one scoop of milk gelato and vanilla gelato. The mint chocolate parfait was by far the most impressive of the two appearance-wise, and the minty gelato was refreshing. It was a good end to a long first day in Sapporo and since the parfaits weren’t too heavy, I still slept like a baby when we finally made it back to the hotel. Shiawase no Recipe Sweets Susukino does not accept electronic or card payment, so make sure you have enough yen to cover your bill. They also have an extensive drink menu, including alcohol. An English menu is available, so it is a great place to start an exploration of Sapporo’s late night parfait culture.
Address: 4-chome Minami 3, Chuo Ward, Sapporo 060-0063 ビッグシルバービル地下B1
Hours: Weekdays 7 p.m.-3 a.m.; Sat. and Sun. 2 p.m.- 3 a.m.
Café Noymond (Photo by Denisse Rauda/Stripes Japan)
Café Noymond (Photo by Denisse Rauda/Stripes Japan)
For my next parfait, I decided to give my blood sugar a restful night and instead went for a mid-afternoon treat at Café Noymond. The seats were all taken so we had to wait about 30 minutes, but we were tired, so we didn’t mind sitting in the air-conditioned queue. Once seated, we perused the menu with 12 different parfait options and many coffee, tea and alcoholic drink options. We had a big dinner planned for later, so we ordered a strawberry parfait (1,750 yen) to share, a vanilla iced latte (580 yen) and hazelnut iced latte. You can save a little money by making the parfait a set with a drink, which I did for my hazelnut latte for an extra 300 yen. This parfait was just like the photograph, perfectly topped and layered. The strawberry gelato was tart and sweet and the fresh strawberry slices were the perfect ripeness, plus rare to have in July in mainland Japan. The caramelized sugar decoration added a good crunch. Inside the glass, the corn flake layer gave another crispness that we enjoyed. I must say that when I first arrived in Japan, I was not impressed by cornflakes in ice cream, but it’s since grown on me. The iced lattes were good, but I think hot or iced black coffee might’ve paired better. Either way, it was a good choice to spend some time relaxing in between all the shopping and sightseeing we did.
Address: 2 Chome-7-1 Minami 3 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0063
Hours: 1 p.m.-11 p.m. daily.
